A tall seamer with good control and variety, Clint McKay has been the most permanent member of Australia's one-day attack for the past two years, and one of its most reliable. Although he lacks the pace desired by Australia's coaches and selectors for the Test side, McKay's accuracy and subtle slower deliveries have made him an ODI specialist. A back-of-the-hand slower ball brought him the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar on ODI debut; Tendulkar had made 175, but in a high-scoring match the breakthrough meant victory for Australia. A Test debut against West Indies in Perth followed, but he struggled for impact and claimed just one wicket. A regular in the ODI team throughout 2010, McKay was kept out of the 2011 World Cup by a stress fracture in his left foot and it was not until February 2012 that he regained his spot in the one-day team. That began a period of consistency that culminated in McKay being named Australia's ODI Cricketer of the Year at the Allan Border Medal night in early 2013. Touring India in 2013, McKay started to leak runs a little more freely but he again performed solidly in the home ODIs against England in January 2014, which was all the more impressive as he had recently been dropped by the Melbourne Stars.

But neither T20 nor the longer format have provided McKay with quite the same results as 50-over cricket. He had to wait until he had lost his Cricket Victoria contract before making his debut for the state, getting his chance in November 2006 when several of Victoria's fast bowlers were struck down with injuries. In an effort to get in shape, he had trained with the Coburg VFL team and shed about nine kilograms. It was not until 2008-09 that he started to really break through at state level and he was one of the key members of Victoria's triumphant Sheffield Shield side. McKay's 33 wickets at 21.42 meant he was sixth on the competition tally, which was a strong performance in an attack boasting impressive pace depth.
ESPNcricinfo staff